Spurs youngster hails ‘eye opening’ loan spell with Hatters

Mike Simmonds

Former Hatters loanee Nathan Oduwa has hailed his time at Kenilworth as an ‘amazing experience’

The 19-year-old Tottenham Hotspur attacker spent the latter part of the season with Luton after joining on transfer deadline day from the Premier League giants Spurs.

“I hope that I’ve been able to contribute something positive to Luton’s season.”

Nathan Oduwa

Although he only made 11 appearances in total, Oduwa still felt it was a hugely worthwhile part of his learning process.

Speaking to the Spurs official website, he said: “It was an amazing experience playing in a men’s team week in, week out, fighting for promotion and playing in front of a big crowd.

“You can see that the games are more important at senior level because you have people fighting for their lives, paying bills, so every point counts, everything counts.

“I would also say the tempo is more aggressive and it’s a higher tempo than U21s football, especially when you’ve got 10,000 fans cheering your name.

“When that happens you just feel like saying to yourself ‘I’m a part of this’ and you know you have to do something with the ball every time you get it.”

Oduwa had begun by coming off the bench at Oxford but was then selected from the off for next game, a 2-2 draw with York.

However, he only went on to make two more starts, and only featured sporadically in Town’s run-in.

He continued: “Being out of the team was hard to deal with but you’ve got to learn how to keep your head down and keep working because the manager is just finding the best players that he needs to get him the three points.

“If he feels those players are going to do it then that’s the manager’s choice. All I can do is just keep working in training and try to prove to him that I can help the cause.

“My first loan experience has been a big eye-opener, finding out what it’s like to be around a senior team on a matchday after a loss or a win, and I hope that I’ve been able to contribute something positive to Luton’s season.”